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Nevertheless, at the one year anniversary of the course, the numbers and growth looked quite promising and it seemed that Philadelphians were quick to catch onto a good thing - 32, 936 played the course in its first year of open play.
At Pine Valley, the club buys additional acreage and there are reports of additional difficulties, both agronomic and financial. It is estimated that George Crump has poured over $200,000 of his own money into the club, as well as the last four years of his life.
In April, the United States declares war on Germany, effectively entering the world-wide conflict. A draft of able-bodied men for service is instituted. All tournament and golf course construction activity is affected through the duration of the year. By year end, the war rages on with no end in sight.
1918 – On January 24th, George Crump at age 46 commits suicide at his home in Merchantville. The outpouring of genuine emotion and regret in the world golf community is palpable and profound. It is widely acknowledged that Pine Valley needs to be finished in his vision as an everlasting testimony to the man and his love for the game.
In the fall of that year, Hugh Wilson and his brother Alan are asked by Pine Valley to come down and complete the final four holes, which are opened before the end of 1918.
In November, a ceasefire effectively ended World War I, which was formalized the next year with the signing of the Treaty of Versailles.
1919 – Despite the war, the popularity of the public links at Cobb’s Creek continued to grow significantly with over 40,000 rounds recorded.
1920 – The dreams and vision of the men who pushed for a public course in the city is beginning to be realized as Tillinghast reports about the number of golfers skyrocketing after the end of the war. Even if things are a bit cramped, they certainly sound vibrant!
June 1920
But for genuine golf activity, the most enthusiastic type can be seen at Cobb's Creek, the lone Philadelphia public links, any day in the week. The official figures on attendance show that the number playing there has doubled since the first year, 1916 and from the start there this year so far, it looks as if the figures would be trebled.
The month the course was opened only 230 played it, but the next month the figure jumped to 2500, and even during the war the statistics month by month in fair weather show a steady climb upwards. In fact the numbers playing have increased so that the golf there, to a mere onlooker, does not appear in any degree comfortable. The majority of players are duffers, liable to hit the ball 200 inches or 200 yards. From sixsomes down to onesomes they are strung along every bit of fairway, tee, green, rough and water of the course; some within one-shot distance of the next match, some creeping up on another in stealthy, topped-midiron shots; some playing through a match that has just found that "lost ball." upon which the "lost ball" match hits the ball regardless and eagerly enters a race to regain its lost position while the match that has gone through ducks a golf ball barrage, but is powerless to go through the match ahead in turn.
Players even come there from New Jersey, automobiles are parked there as if at a ball game, and doing work on the course is becoming increasingly difficult owing to the fact that it is hard to flag the unending parade of players over the course to get a chance to do any repairing or constructive work on the much-tramped links.
All this is turning the attention of the more enthusiastic players to the possibilities of urging an otherwise engaged city council to set out other public links. It has been argued that at least three more such courses are essential, as there should be one in each of the four corners of the city. There has been considerable talk of placing one on League Island to take care of the southern portion of the city and another one in Frankford for the northern population, both of these being crowded sections of Philadelphia where a great playground such as this would be a blessing. These new courses will doubtless come in time. Meantime Cobb's Creek is outdoing itself in the matter of accommodations and getting the golfers off the tees without a hitch.
Cobb’s Creek professional Horace Gamble started a city-wide tempest among golf aficionados when he dared suggest that a modest public course like Cobb’s Creek was as challenging as the legendary private club Pine Valley.
1921 – Despite multitudes of players now flocking daily to Cobb’s Creek in the post-war days causing overcrowding and resultant slow-play, a number of golfers are becoming top-flight players just as early proponents like Tillinghast, Smith, and Crump prophetically dreamed. Among the new local stars were Joe Coble, Marcus Greer, and Robert Hamilton, among others.
1922 – Hugh Wilson spends two days with William Flynn at Kittansett, going over the possibilities of the property. Many years later, Flynn is finally credited with designing the course for Frederic Hood who had received sole design credit for decades. Wilson’s overall input today remains largely unrecognized.
The rising number of golfers playing Cobb’s Creek annually is growing exponentially, with a grand total of 80,000 rounds played in 1921. Given that scenario, the Golf Association of Philadelphia at its annual meeting in January steps in again and forms a committee to locate and recommend appropriate sites for additional public golf courses.
Once again, almost a decade after they both began working to advance public golf in Philadelphia, Hugh Wilson and Ab Smith once again gave freely of their time and talents for the love and advancement of the game in the city of Philadelphia.
1922 – Hugh Wilson spends two days with William Flynn at Kittansett, going over the possibilities of the property. Many years later, Flynn is finally credited with designing the course for Frederic Hood and Wilson’s overall input is largely unknown..
The rising number of golfers playing Cobb’s Creek annually is growing exponentially, with a grand total of 80,000 rounds played in 1921. Given that scenario, the Golf Association of Philadelphia at its annual meeting in January steps in again and forms a committee to locate and recommend appropriate sites for additional public golf courses. Once again, almost a decade after they both began working to advance public golf in Philadelphia, Hugh Wilson and Ab Smith once again gave freely of their time and talents for the love and advancement of the game in the city of Philadelphia.
It is quite heartwarming and perhaps even somewhat surprising to learn that patrician Hugh Wilson was heavily involved in the creation and promotion of Philly public golf courses until his premature death in 1925. The vision of men like Tillinghast, Crump, Smith, and Wilson that building a great and challenging public course would lead to both an increased growth and popularity of the game as well as the development of Philadelphia competitors who could compete successfully on a national scale was just beginning to be fully realized.
Despite the packed Cobb’s Creek course that was creating increased demand and need for the building of other public facilities, there was evidently enough time and space for periodically arranging major exhibition matches on the public links. And, the Cobb’s Creek stars seemed to be making a habit out of whipping their private club counterparts, particularly on their home course. Singularly Joe Coble a humble waiter developed his game at Cobb’s Creek in relative obscurity.
1924 – By now, it was time for Joe Coble to take some time off from his job as a waiter at a Center City restaurant and bring his Cobb’s Creek-trained game to a national stage. It is a true “Rocky” story, if ever there was one in Philadelphia – Coble brought home the national amateur public links championship held in Dayton, Ohio. Cobb’s Creek being the sole public course in a major city of over two million strong it was also a Philadelphia story that Coble’s fellow public golfers raised money for him to make the trip and bring home the USGA trophy.
Coble’s feat wasn’t the only stunning event that summer. Indeed, in September of that year, Merion once again hosted the U.S. Amateur and course architect Hugh Wilson oversaw significant routing changes (implemented by William Flynn) to the course to eliminate the numerous road crossings, and in the process created today’s wonderful 1st, 10th, 11th, 12th, and 13th holes.
Wunderkind Bobby Jones absolutely devastated the field, and won the final decisively from George Von Elm by the lopsided score of 9 and 8.
1925 – Hugh Wilson devises an ambitious program to revise the bunkering of Merion, but does not live to see it accomplished. Suffering from recurring health problems through most of his adult life, Hugh Wilson sadly dies from pneumonia on February 3rd at the very young and promising age of 45.
1926 – Merion hosts the U.S. Women’s Amateur, won by 39 year old Helen Stetson.
Joe Coble gives up his job waiting tables and turns professional, taking a job in the golf shop at Philmont Country Club.
It is also likely around this time that the original 150 yard par three 14th hole that crossed the creek down in the far northwestern corner of the property (approximately where today’s driving range parking lot is adjacent to City Line Avenue) was abandoned, to be replaced by the dramatic, amphitheatre-like 17th hole. The reasons for the change were likely two-fold; 1) As the lowest point on the property, the original 14th was probably a constant drainage problem, and 2) complaints about the lengthy walk from the old 17th (today’s 11th) green to the 18th tee were solved with the creation of a beautiful hole that played from hilltop down into the scenic valley below. If any change from the original course could be called a positive one, this would be the clear exception to what has surely been a significant net loss over time, viewed through the retrospective prism of history. The details of who created this hole and when are still being researched, but we know that it appeared sometime after 1922 and was already in place by the 1928 U.S. Publinx tournament.
1927 – After years of pleading based on growing numbers of golfers, two new public courses are opened to the public. The shortish 18-hole Juniata Golf Course is opened in Northeast Philadelphia in the Tacony section and the 11-hole Karakung GC is opened at Cobb’s Creek. A.H. Smith and likely Frank Meehan and Ed Clarey are involved with the laying out of the courses, working with Fairmount Park Engineer Alan Corson. By 1929, over 120,000 rounds of golf are played over the Cobb’s Creek and Karakung courses.
Joe Coble wins the Philadelphia PGA Championship at Concord Country Club, posting a 148 that won by two strokes.
1928 – After a mere 12 years in existence, Cobb’s Creek steps into the national spotlight by hosting the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. More than 130 golfers from 32 cities tacked the challenging layout and the medal score for 36 holes was won with a record high ten over par. In many ways, Cobb’s Creek was the champion, winning by a knockout!
1930-39 – The 1930 U.S. Amateur is played at Merion and Bobby Jones defeats Eugene Homans in the final 11 and 10 to win the Grand Slam of golf. He then retired from competitive golf at the peak of his powers, forever a legendary champion.
In the 1930 U.S. Amateur Public Links Tournament, two Cobb’s Creek golfers, Charles Albertus and Joseph S. Greene qualified for match-play. Joe Greene, who had lost to Woody Platt in the final of the 1924 Philadelphia Amateur, advanced to the National Publinks final, only to lose one-down to eventual champion Robert Wingate in the 36 hole finale.
The Stock Market Crash of 1929 began what was almost a decade’s long downturn in the American and World economies, otherwise known as the Great Depression.
During the 30s, WPA (Works Project Administration) labor created by Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal worked on various public projects throughout the country, including the building of public golf courses. In Philadelphia, this led to the creation of the additional 7 holes (making 18) at the Karakung GC, the building of Walnut Lane GC, and the building of League Island GC (today known as Franklin Roosevelt GC), as well as providing cheap labor for the upkeep of courses like Cobb’s Creek.
Quickly becoming the most important tournament in America as professional golfers increased in standing and stature, Merion’s hosting of the U.S. Open in 1934 helped to bring that tournament into further prominence. Relatively lesser-known California professional Olin Dutra fired a 293 (13 over par) to win. In 1936, big time tournament golf also made its way to Pine Valley for the first time. Generally acknowledged as the greatest course in the country, but not seeking the publicity that large professional events would garner and also unable to accommodate large galleries, Pine Valley played host to the 1936 Walker Cup matches between the United States and Great Britain/Ireland. Although most of the matches were hotly contested, in the end the US team won 9-0, the only shutout in the history of the matches.
It’s also not widely known but in the late 1930s, Pine Valley hosted 72-hole weekend pro-am tournaments although it wasn’t an official PGA tour event. Nearly 40 of the top professionals would appear including Hogan, Diegel, Sarazen, Snead, Nelson and the other top players of the day, and over a total of nearly 450 rounds of professional golf, only two players broke par of 70.
1940-49 – During World War II in the early 40’s, the United States Army annexed approximately 15% of the Cobb’s Creek property to build an anti-aircraft artillery facility. This significant loss of acreage ultimately results in the significant alteration and/or elimination of 7 of the original 18 holes and forces a new, much more constricted routing.
That the 1942 PGA Championship was played over nine holes of the Hugh Wilson layout at Seaview (supplemented by a newer nine holes designed by William Flynn) and won by Sam Snead seems almost a footnote as America marched to war. Snead, in fact, enlisted in the U.S. Navy the day after the tournament’s completion.
However, the real story of the 1940’s in Philadelphia golf was not really known on a national scale until several decades later. It is the story of one Charlie Sifford, the first African-American on the PGA tour, and it is also the story of the other black men he competed against on the “Negro Tour” in the sad days of discrimination and racial separation. He later recalled those days in his 1990’s book Just Let Me Play.
1950-1959 – The U.S. Open returned to Merion in 1950 and in a heart-stirring comeback victory after a near fatal car accident, Ben Hogan won a playoff over local pro George Fazio and Lloyd Mangrum and provided posterity with a profound story of the power of individual will and gritty determination.
The spotlight of national professional golf in the form of two PGA Tour events, the 1955 and 1956 Philadelphia Daily News Opens was cast once again on Cobb’s Creek, although with the re-routing of the course necessitated by the annexation of almost 15% of the property by the U.S. Army, it played 6,243 yards to an unusual par of 68.
Against such a target number, Cobb’s was quite the challenge to even these top players. Arnold Palmer, the reigning U.S. Amateur champion, started the 1955 tournament with an inglorious 78, and the winning 72 hole total of 273 was one over par. In 1955 Ted Kroll prevailed in a playoff with Doug Ford, beating other luminaries such as Tommy Bolt, Miller Barber, Gardner Dickinson, George Fazio, and Marty Furgol, all who contended. Howard Wheeler, well past his prime but playing at his old stomping grounds finished at 298.
In 1956, before a crowd of 17,000 spectators, another playoff determined the winner as Dick Mayer bested Bud Holscher, the only two men under par for the tournament at 3-under 269. Some other top names included Arnold Palmer, who earned $1000 for his 273. Gardner Dickinson, Tommy Bolt, and Fred Hawkins finished at even. At 274 was Billy Casper, and at 276 the players included Ted Kroll, Charlie Sifford, Gay Brewer, Doug Ford, and Billy Maxwell. Cary Middlecoff, having won the U.S. Open the week prior, finished well back at 281. The following year, Dick Mayer would win the U.S. Open himself at Inverness.
1960 to Present – Through the intervening years from the Kennedy Administration to the present, the stature and glory of both Merion Golf Club and Pine Valley Golf Club have only increased. Merion hosted U.S. Opens in 1971 and 1981, the former resulting in a classic playoff between champion Lee Trevino and Jack Nicklaus, and the latter featuring a sterling performance by Australian David Graham who hit every fairway and every green in his final round to shoot the first 72-hole under par score in the history of the fabled golf course. The club also hosted two U.S. Amateurs and will hold the 2009 Walker Cup tournament.
For a number of years, with advances in equipment technology, it was believed that Merion’s former glory days as a host of top professionals were behind her, but that was thankfully dispelled when the club was awarded the 2013 U.S. Open.
In the case of Pine Valley, it remains generally regarded as still the best golf course in the world, 90 years after it was completed. Hosting the exciting 1985 Walker Cup tournament which the U.S team won in a cliffhanger only served to enhance its storied reputation and position in the game.
Both Hugh Wilson and George Crump would certainly be proud these many years later to find that both of their courses are firmly and seemingly permanently ensconced in the top ten courses in the world in various rankings. Indeed, their incredible place in history and rich traditions seem to magnify their mystique and aura of greatness, as should be.
Sadly, the past 50 years have not been so kind to Cobb’s Creek. Seemingly lost at times in a city struggling financially and at odds with itself over other priorities, Cobb’s Creek today still stands proud as an old lady who has been abandoned by the side of the road, covered in dust and raggedy wear, yet still somehow shining with a beauty underneath that is palpable and glowing…and even more tragically, seemingly wholly recoverably. It is a story of what if and should be. Once the greatest public course in the land, designed by legends to advance the game in the city of Philadelphia, it now seems that the proud history and tradition and lore of the course is largely forgotten and unknown.
If Cobb’s Creek is mentioned at all these days, it is usually in the form of the following recent story that appeared in TravelGolf.com. Certainly, this can’t be what the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce or the Preservation Trust of the Fairmount Park Commission or the Golf Association of Philadelphia or even the United States Golf Association hope to have spotlighted when the eyes of the sporting world are thrust on Philadelphia during the 2013 U.S. Open. Common sense would dictate that we need to treat our historic treasures and the memories of our local heroes with more dignity and care.
The local press reviews also see the incredible potential, yet seemingly reflect a sense of hopelessness and futility that anything will ever change. That’s a sad and frustrating thought for a great city trying to come back and one hopes that there is more chance for a successful resurrection and renaissance.
to be continued with a modern course opinion by Mr. Cirba.. |
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